Jonathan Heathcote became the latest graduate from the youth team ranks when he made his first team debut at Wrexham in April, and kept his place for the final game of the season at home to Boston United.
The former youth team captain has earned a short-term professional contract and here he reflects on a campaign in which he achieved the targets he outlined on this site last summer (see links below).
"I said I wanted to get a new contract to keep me here for next season," he said, "and I've managed to do that. I wanted to play as well as I could for the Youth Team and to some extent I've managed that too - although inclusion in the first team squad since Christmas meant that I haven't played a lot of youth team games. I also wanted to gain a regular reserve place, and I've managed to do that this year."
The second half of the campaign saw another step in Heathcote's career as, he was included in the first team squad.
"Since Christmas my game has come on lots", he commented. "In some ways I've been helped by the boost of training with the pros. Being included in the squad gives you such a confidence lift and it's been noticeable in my game I think.
"I've spoken with Dale Brooks and Ricky Duncan about my game and worked on quite a lot of it, and with their help it's come on quite a lot since Christmas."
The improvement was rewarded toward the end of the season when he was not only handed a six-month contract but also a first team debut at Wrexham on April 26th.
"Starting the last two first team games of the season was amazing. It's something I obviously would have liked to do, but it's been an added bonus on top of the year that I've had.
"The Wrexham game was a memorable occasion, but for the wrong reason for most of the rest of the lads. It was difficult , because we played badly as a team, but I felt that I did give myself a good chance by playing all right that day.
"It was quite daunting to start with, being thrown straight in playing centre-midfield in a man-marking role. The idea with that was for Terry Fleming to play left back against Carlos Edwards who is a bit quick, rather than throw me in at the deep end.
"The rest of the lads helped me out a massive amount and it was an exciting moment running out on the pitch for the first time, especially with 10,000 people there. I really enjoyed it."
His family were able to make the trip to Wrexham to see his debut and, despite the result, it was a reward for their efforts which have played a big part in his career to date.
"They all made the long trip, after many years of doing long trips," he smiled. "They've been all over the country ferrying me around with the Centre of Excellence when I was younger, and it was as proud a moment for them as it was for me at Wrexham because it showed that all the hard work driving around and all the petrol expense was worthwhile.
Heathcote said that his family had also helped him to improve his game by video taping him in a number of reserve games.
"That's my mum," he said. "She's videoed a few of my reserve games to see what parts of my game I need to work on, because the first team have their games videoed and they have the luxury of being able to see that, which is something we don't have in the reserves.
"I felt I needed to watch myself, because when you're on the pitch you get a different perspective about what you're doing compared to everyone else, so it's interesting to watch it back and analyse my game. It helped me a massive amount, as did watching lots of football on Sky where you can watch individual players from different camera angles. It helps you a lot when you can learn from watching the best players in the country.
"It's the same when I've been involved with the first team squad and being able to watch other players in the League to see what other players are doing. It's had a massive impact on my game."
Heathcote did enough in the 5-0 defeat at promoted Wrexham to keep his place in the side for the final match of the season at home to Boston, albeit on the left side of midfield rather than his preferred left-back or left-wingback role.
"It was nice to play in front of a home crowd because there weren't that many of our fans at Wrexham," he said. "Again I thought I played all right. I was slightly out of position, but it's something that I can do if required.
"The team didn't play very well and it was the wrong result for us as we wanted to finish on a high, but I felt I did all right and it was good to have the support from the home fans - especially when you've been aiming for the last three years to get to that point.
"Being a YT, week in week out you see the lads running out onto the pitch and you just think 'what I wouldn't give for that', so when you actually get chosen to run out, it sends a shiver down your spine. It's a feeling you can't really describe - it's so nice to be able to play in front of your home fans.
"The match at Wrexham was nice in the sense that it was my debut, but nothing compared to playing in your home town and playing in front of your crowd as well. It was amazing and it's one of those memories that will never go away."
It may have surprised some people to see him selected in midfield, but Heathcote wasn't always a left-sided defender, as he explained.
"When I was younger in the Centre of Excellence I started out as a left winger, then I was moved to centre forward where I played for a few years," he said. "When I came in as a first year in the youth team under Dale Brooks, I did play left midfield for a while but he was the one who really saw me as a left back because I was better coming forward from the back with the ball.
"Since then I've had his help. It took a while to get used to that position, because going from centre forward and left wing to left back was quite a culture shock, but I've got there now and I feel comfortable."
The 19-year-old also admitted that being naturally left footed may have helped his cause.
"In my case, being left footed has helped out quite a lot and there are not many left-footed players at the club," he said. "If I can offer something different and give the manager a different option on the pitch then that can only be good for myself and for the club.
"In Fred Murray we have a left back, but I'm not the same player as him. Certainly I'm more attacking-minded than him, so I can bring something different in that sense in the role if the manager ever needed me to play there. So hopefully I can offer something different to the club that the manager wants to use."
So after achieving his aims for last season, what are his goals for the next one?
"Proving myself to get a longer contract at the club, and then trying to figure as much as I can in the first team and trying to make an impact," he stated. "Now I've had the taste of playing the last couple of games, I don't want to drop out of that and get stuck playing in the reserves.
"I know that reserve team football would still help me a lot, but you don't gain anything near as much as you do playing with the likes of Wannie, Terry Fleming, Warren Goodhind and players like that - all the players who the club class as their best players. You learn so much more from them and it can only help you as a player, so that's really where you want to be.
"I just hope it can carry on for me and that I can push on again next season to get another contract around Christmas, and then push for a regular place in the first team and see what happens."
